Selections from the Book of Moses

Chapter 5

(June–October 1830)

Adam and Eve bring forth children—Adam offers sacrifice and serves God—Cain and Abel are born—Cain rebels, loves Satan more than God, and becomes Perdition—Murder and wickedness spread—The gospel is preached from the beginning.

1 And it came to pass that after I, the Lord God, had driven them out, that Adam began to till the earth, and to have adominion over all the beasts of the field, and to eat his bread by the sweat of his bbrow, as I the Lord had commanded him. And Eve, also, his wife, did clabor with him.

2 And aAdam knew his wife, and she bare unto him bsons and cdaughters, and they began to dmultiply and to replenish the earth.

3 And from that time forth, the sons and adaughters of Adam began to divide two and two in the land, and to till the land, and to tend flocks, and they also begat sons and daughters.

4 And Adam and Eve, his wife, acalled upon the name of the Lord, and they heard the voice of the Lord from the way toward the Garden of bEden, speaking unto them, and they saw him not; for they were shut out from his cpresence.

5 And he gave unto them commandments, that they should aworship the Lord their God, and should offer the bfirstlings of their cflocks, for an offering unto the Lord. And Adam was dobedient unto the commandments of the Lord.

6 And after many days an aangel of the Lord appeared unto Adam, saying: Why dost thou offer bsacrifices unto the Lord? And Adam said unto him: I know not, save the Lord commanded me.

7 And then the angel spake, saying: This thing is a asimilitude of the bsacrifice of the Only Begotten of the Father, which is full of cgrace and dtruth.

8 Wherefore, thou shalt do all that thou doest in the aname of the Son, and thou shalt brepent and ccall upon God in the name of the Son forevermore.

9 And in that day the aHoly Ghost fell upon Adam, which beareth record of the Father and the Son, saying: I am the bOnly Begotten of the Father from the beginning, henceforth and forever, that as thou hast cfallen thou mayest be dredeemed, and all mankind, even as many as will.

10 And in that day Adam blessed God and was afilled, and began to bprophesy concerning all the families of the earth, saying: Blessed be the name of God, for because of my ctransgression my deyes are opened, and in this life I shall have ejoy, and again in the fflesh I shall see God.

11 And Eve, his wife, heard all these things and was glad, saying: Were it not for our transgression we never should have had aseed, and never should have bknown good and evil, and the joy of our redemption, and the eternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient.

12 And Adam and aEve blessed the name of God, and they made all things bknown unto their sons and their daughters.

13 And aSatan came among them, saying: I am also a son of God; and he commanded them, saying: bBelieve it not; and they believed it not, and they cloved Satan more than God. And men began from that time forth to be dcarnal, sensual, and devilish.

14 And the Lord God called upon men by the aHoly Ghost everywhere and commanded them that they should repent;

15 And as many as abelieved in the Son, and repented of their sins, should be bsaved; and as many as believed not and repented not, should be cdamned; and the words went forth out of the mouth of God in a firm decree; wherefore they must be fulfilled.

16 And Adam and Eve, his wife, ceased not to call upon God. And Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bare aCain, and said: I have gotten a man from the Lord; wherefore he may not reject his words. But behold, Cain bhearkened not, saying: Who is the Lord that I should cknow him?

17 And she again conceived and bare his brother Abel. And Abel ahearkened unto the voice of the Lord. And bAbel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.

18 And Cain aloved Satan more than God. And Satan commanded him, saying: bMake an offering unto the Lord.

19 And in process of time it came to pass that Cain brought of the afruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord.

20 And Abel, he also brought of the afirstlings of his flock, and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had brespect unto Abel, and to his coffering;

21 But unto Cain, and to his aoffering, he had not respect. Now Satan knew this, and it bpleased him. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.

23 If thou doest well, thou shalt be aaccepted. And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door, and Satan bdesireth to have thee; and except thou shalt hearken unto my commandments, I will cdeliver thee up, and it shall be unto thee according to his desire. And thou shalt drule over him;

24 For from this time forth thou shalt be the father of his alies; thou shalt be called bPerdition; for thou wast also cbefore the world.

25 And it shall be said in time to come—That these abominations were had from aCain; for he rejected the greater counsel which was had from God; and this is a bcursing which I will put upon thee, except thou repent.

26 And Cain was wroth, and listened not any more to the voice of the Lord, neither to Abel, his brother, who walked in holiness before the Lord.

27 And Adam and his wife amourned before the Lord, because of Cain and his brethren.

28 And it came to pass that Cain took one of his brothers’ daughters to awife, and they bloved Satan more than God.

29 And Satan said unto Cain: aSwear unto me by thy throat, and if thou tell it thou shalt die; and swear thy brethren by their heads, and by the living God, that they tell it not; for if they tell it, they shall surely die; and this that thy father may not know it; and this day I will deliver thy brother Abel into thine hands.

30 And Satan sware unto Cain that he would do according to his acommands. And all these things were done in secret.

31 And Cain said: Truly I am Mahan, the master of this great asecret, that I may bmurder and get cgain. Wherefore Cain was called Master dMahan, and he gloried in his wickedness.

32 And Cain went into the field, and Cain talked with Abel, his brother. And it came to pass that while they were in the field, Cain rose up against Abel, his brother, and slew him.

33 And Cain agloried in that which he had done, saying: I am free; surely the bflocks of my brother falleth into my hands.

34 And the Lord said unto Cain: Where is Abel, thy brother? And he said: I know not. Am I my brother’s akeeper?

35 And the Lord said: What hast thou done? The voice of thy brother’s ablood cries unto me from the ground.

36 And now thou shalt be acursed from the earth which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand.

37 When thou tillest the ground it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her astrength. A bfugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.

38 And Cain said unto the Lord: Satan atempted me because of my brother’s flocks. And I was wroth also; for his offering thou didst accept and not mine; my bpunishment is greater than I can bear.

39 Behold thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the Lord, and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that he that findeth me will slay me, because of mine iniquities, for these things are not hid from the Lord.

40 And I the Lord said unto him: Whosoever slayeth thee, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And I the Lord set a amark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.

41 And Cain was ashut out from the bpresence of the Lord, and with his wife and many of his brethren dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.

42 And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bare Enoch, and he also begat many sons and daughters. And he builded a city, and he called the name of the acity after the name of his son, Enoch.

43 And unto Enoch was born Irad, and other sons and daughters. And Irad begat Mahujael, and other sons and daughters. And Mahujael begat Methusael, and other sons and daughters. And Methusael begat Lamech.

44 And Lamech took unto himself two wives; the name of one being Adah, and the name of the other, Zillah.

45 And Adah bare Jabal; he was the father of such as dwell in atents, and they were keepers of cattle; and his brother’s name was Jubal, who was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ.

46 And Zillah, she also bare Tubal Cain, an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron. And the sister of Tubal Cain was called Naamah.

47 And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah: Hear my voice, ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech; for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt.

49 For aLamech having entered into a covenant with Satan, after the manner of Cain, wherein he became Master Mahan, master of that great secret which was administered unto Cain by Satan; and Irad, the son of Enoch, having known their secret, began to reveal it unto the sons of Adam;

50 Wherefore Lamech, being angry, slew him, not like unto Cain, his brother Abel, for the sake of getting gain, but he slew him for the aoath’s sake.

51 For, from the days of Cain, there was a secret acombination, and their works were in the dark, and they knew every man his brother.

52 Wherefore the Lord acursed Lamech, and his house, and all them that had covenanted with Satan; for they kept not the commandments of God, and it displeased God, and he ministered not unto them, and their works were abominations, and began to spread among all the bsons of men. And it was among the sons of men.

53 And among the daughters of men these things were not spoken, because that Lamech had spoken the secret unto his wives, and they rebelled against him, and declared these things abroad, and had not compassion;

54 Wherefore Lamech was despised, and cast out, and came not among the sons of men, lest he should die.

55 And thus the works of adarkness began to prevail among all the sons of men.

56 And God acursed the earth with a sore curse, and was angry with the wicked, with all the sons of men whom he had made;

57 For they would not ahearken unto his voice, nor believe on his Only Begotten Son, even him whom he declared should bcome in the meridian of time, who was cprepared from before the foundation of the world.

58 And thus the aGospel began to be bpreached, from the beginning, being declared by cholydangels sent forth from the presence of God, and by his own voice, and by the gift of the Holy Ghost.

59 And thus all things were confirmed unto aAdam, by an holy ordinance, and the Gospel preached, and a decree sent forth, that it should be in the world, until the end thereof; and thus it was. Amen.